Searching For Karl Marx in Middle America




“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” – slogan popularized by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program

I live in a state that is predominately Republican and Conservative. I live in Mid-America. Fly-over country. The Bible Belt. I do not live near Berkley or Massachusetts. The people in this state believe in God, Football and Guns.

While running my errands, I decided to go on a search for Karl Marx in this most conservative of states. My question was this - could Marx’s ideas be receptive to Middle America?

I decided to interview just normal people in everyday life and see what they thought about this slogan.

Comments

  1. By The SwordFebruary 9, 2009 at 7:23 AM

    I think it would have been better if you had asked them what they thought the quote really meant. I for one wouldn't have recognized the quote and at first, it even sounds rather nice, it is only when you stop to think about it that you realize that it is communism.

    At first it sounds like simple charity. Even the Bible has it in the parable of the farm where they guys who showed up late for work got paid the same as the guys who worked all day long. Only when such a doctrine becomes mandatory do we really understand it's implications.

    Also, there is the chance that they people interviewed were just trying to get it over with. Maybe saying "yes" to get you to go away. Chicks are funny like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. timharrisDecember 14, 2011 at 3:23 PM

    Yeah the quote needs a context to be good or bad. Within a family, good. In a classless society, bad. Various points in between need to be unpacked.

    ReplyDelete

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